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The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea became the world’s fifth-largest sovereign Bitcoin holder after Lazarus stole over $1.4 billion from Bybit. North Korean-funded terror group Lazarus has catapulted the nation’s Bitcoin ( BTC ) holdings above caches controlled by crypto-friendly countries Bhutan and El Salvador. Lazarus controls 13,518 BTC, worth approximately $1.1 billion at press time, according to Arkham data . This massive wealth was amassed through numerous cyber attacks and crypto exploits over the years, like the Japanese exchange DMM Bitcoin exploit in 2024 and Ronin Network in 2022, where Lazarus stole $308 million and over $600 million in crypto, respectively. At present, the DPRK-tied organization boasts more Bitcoin than Bhutan’s 10,635 BTC trove, which it has accumulated through large-scale mining, and 6,118 BTC attributed to El Salvador, the first country to adopt BTC as legal tender. Currently, 198,109 BTC held by U.S. authorities, China’s 194,000 BTC trove, the United Kingdom’s 61,000 BTC hoard, and Ukraine’s 46,351 BTC stash are the only known sovereign Bitcoin portfolios bigger than North Korea’s. The sudden jump in North Korea’s BTC wealth follows Lazarus’ attack on Bybit in February. Dubai-based crypto exchange Bybit reported that over 400,000 Ether ( ETH ) had been stolen from its Safe multi-sig cold wallet. Lazarus tapped decentralized finance protocols like THORChain, which in-house developers and the crypto community criticized for lax anti-criminal measures, to swap a significant portion of the ETH to BTC. Per CNN, citing a White House official, Lazarus proceeds, and illicit wealth from other DPKR-funded syndicates finances almost 50% of North Korea’s nuclear missile program.

Standard Chartered has changed its 2025 year-end price target for Ethereum from $10,000 to $4,000, citing structural challenges within the Ethereum ecosystem. The bank’s analysts attribute this adjustment to the impact of Layer 2 solutions, particularly Coinbase’s Base network, which has reduced Ethereum’s ( ETH ) market capitalization by an estimated $50 billion. Layer 2 networks like Base were developed to enhance Ethereum’s scalability by reducing transaction fees and congestion. However, Standard Chartered’s research indicates that these solutions may be diverting revenue away from the main Ethereum network. Base, for instance, channels its profits to Coinbase , potentially diminishing Ethereum’s overall market share. The bank also forecasts a decline in the ETH/BTC ratio, predicting it will reach 0.015 by the end of 2027, a level not seen since 2017. This suggests that Ethereum may underperform relative to Bitcoin in the coming years. Despite these concerns, Ethereum continues to lead in several key areas, including decentralized finance, stablecoins , and tokenized assets . Yet, its dominance has been gradually decreasing. Standard Chartered noted that without proactive measures from the Ethereum Foundation, such as implementing taxes on Layer 2 solutions, this decline is likely to persist. The bank acknowledged that Ethereum’s price could still rise from its current level of approximately $1,900, especially if Bitcoin experiences significant gains. However, they cautioned that Ethereum’s relative underperformance may continue in the medium term.

Asset management firm Hashdex has filed an amendment with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to include Litecoin in its Hashdex Nasdaq Crypto Index US ETF. The Hashdex Nasdaq Crypto Index US ETF aims to capture the overall trends in the crypto market by providing diversified exposure to a range of digital assets. By adding Litecoin ( LTC ), Hashdex will expand the ETF’s asset base, potentially improving its diversification and making it more attractive to investors interested in the cryptocurrency sector. An exchange-traded fund is an investment fund that holds a collection of assets, such as stocks, bonds, or cryptocurrencies. ETFs trade on stock exchanges, allowing investors to buy and sell shares throughout the trading day, similar to individual stocks. This structure provides diversification as investors gain exposure to multiple assets within a single investment. Hashdex recently received approval from Brazil’s Securities and Exchange Commission to launch the world’s first XRP ( XRP ) spot ETF on the B3 stock exchange. The decision came as multiple U.S. issuers, including Grayscale and WisdomTree, awaited SEC approval for similar products. Litecoin, created in 2011, is a peer-to-peer cryptocurrency that enables instant, near-zero-cost payments to anyone worldwide. It operates on an open-source, decentralized payment network without any central authority.

Canadian Bitcoin miner Bitfarms has finalized the acquisition of Stronghold Digital Mining, marking the largest-ever merger between two publicly listed Bitcoin mining companies. According to a press release published on March 17, Bitfarms has completed the all-stock acquisition of Stronghold Digital Mining. The merger was approved on Feb. 28, with 99.6% of votes cast voting in favor, representing about 54.5% of Stronghold’s outstanding shares. Bitfarms acquired Stronghold through a stock-for-stock merger, with Stronghold shareholders receiving 2.52 Bitfarms shares for each Stronghold share they owned. Nearly 60 million Bitfarms shares and over 10.5 million warrants were issued as part of the deal. Stronghold’s stock was removed from Nasdaq and stopped trading. Bitfarms’ stock opened higher Monday morning but lost any buying momentum and was trading lower by around 1% during the early afternoon session. With Stronghold now fully integrated into Bitfarms, the mining giant has expanded its energy capacity to 623 megawatts — including existing power generation and grid import capacity in Pennsylvania. Additionally, Bitfarms now manages nearly 1 more Exahash of computing power, bringing its total to 18 Exahash. A previous agreement where Stronghold hosted miners for others is now being used for Bitfarms’ direct mining operations. Bitfarms also sees potential to convert two Stronghold power sites into large-scale AI and computing hubs, with plans to partner with industry players to develop these facilities. “With Stronghold’s portfolio of power assets, combined with our operational expertise and balance sheet strength, we are well positioned to create long-term value for our shareholders by executing on our US strategy and developing an HPC/AI business geared for scale, ” said Ben Gagnon, Chief Executive Officer of Bitfarms. In addition to increasing its power assets, the acquisition has boosted Bitfarms’ share of the North American energy market from 6% to 80%.

Changpeng Zhao echoed a growing sentiment among analysts, urging AI projects to take payments in existing tokens and only launch their own if they achieve significant scale. In his recent post on X , Changpeng Zhao expressed an “unpopular opinion,” stating that not every AI agent needs its own token as agents can collect payments in existing tokens for their services. “Launch a coin only if you have scale. Focus on utility, not tokens,” he said. According to CoinMarketCap , the total market cap of AI & Big data tokens has declined by approximately 22% in the past 30 days, currently at $27.44 billion. Many AI agents are down by double digits in the last month, with Virtuals Protocol ( VIRTUALS ) declining by 42%, Render ( RENDER ) by 30%, and Near Protocol ( NEAR ) by 26%. However, these declines are likely driven by the broader crypto market downturn rather than a lack of utility, with macroeconomic factors—most notably Trump’s tariffs—playing a key role. The uncertainty over potential U.S. expansions of existing restrictions recently sent stocks of AI chipmaker companies tumbling, with Nvidia’s stock taking a significant 6% decline, adding further pressure on AI-related crypto tokens. Although the decline in AI tokens’ market cap is driven primarily by macro factors, other experts echoed Zhao’s sentiment about the lack of utility of AI tokens. For example, Coinbase research analyst David Han noted that the recent price rallies in AI coins were driven mainly by hype rather than actual utility. He attributed the hype around these tokens to the broader focus on the AI industry. On-chain sleuth ZachXBT also claimed that 99% of AI cryptos are scams, saying that while memecoins acknowledge their lack of inherent value, AI projects often market their tokens as if they had utility. “Do you want to be right or do you want to make money” 99% of it is a scam and the AI agent wrapper grifts are probably worse than other past trends tbh. bc at least meme coins promise nothing whereas AI coins try to larp as much as possible to appear legit to unsuspecting…